Black Sheep

A lot of kids from our CEA program are frequent visitors of the clubs down near Bareclonetta. I told myself when I got here that I would go to a club once, just to see what it was like; and that one time was enough. Every local person I have talked to claim that they never even go near the clubs down by the beach. I am talking about Opium, CDLC, ShoCo, and whatever else they have down there. The one night I went, there was a crazy expensive cover charge, crazy expensive drinks, crazy amounts of people packed into one room dancing to techno music. I know some people love the club atmosphere, but it just wasn’t my thing. We ended up going out on the beach and buying 1 euro beers from the men selling them out of their pockets. It was much cheaper.

            Since I discovered my distaste for the clubs, it prompted me to find alternative places to spend my weekend nights. I heard from a few friends that a bar called L’Ovella Negra (black sheep) was a good place to go. After going a few times, it turned into my go-to spot when going out. As you may have collected from my previous journals, I am not really interested in hanging out in big groups of American students while in Spain. Black Sheep does get its fare share of Americans, but it pretty well diluted with foreign students from everywhere else as well.

            There are two different locations of Black Sheep. There is one off Ramblas, and one near the Marina metro stop. The one off Ramblas is cool because it is kind of small, and feels a little bit like a dungeon. There are wooden tables throughout, and it is an ideal place to go with a few friends, get a tower of beer, and make good conversation. The Black Sheep near Marina has the same feel to it, but it is also very different. This one has about 10 pool tables and about 15 foosball tables. I like this one more because they play good music (British and American rock), and it is a lot bigger. I don’t usually talk too much when I am sober, but when I have a few drinks in me I am much more prone to strike up a conversation with someone (even though I can’t exactly speak the language). I’ve found that if I make it known from the beginning that I cannot really speak Spanish fluently, but if I seem interested in what they have to say, they will help me find the words. It is funny to think that one of my favorite things to do here is something as simple as conversing with people, but I think the fact that after every conversation I have, my confidence with my Spanish is better, and that is why I enjoy it so much. But Black Sheep is definitely my favorite place to go for a night of drinking and broken-Spanish.